Director Of Incarnation Camp Wants Kids To Experience Life In The Moment

DAVID HOLAHANSpecial to The Courant

Karen Fairbairn, 34, is the summer camp director for Incarnation Camp in Ivoryton, a nonprofit and nonreligious operation that serves more than 1,000 children a season. A camper since she was 6, Fairbairn has always loved the life, including the silly songs sung around a roaring fire and the burnt marshmallows. Founded in 1886 by Episcopalians and set on 740 acres, the camp bills itself as the second-oldest in the nation.

Q. How have camps evolved since you were a tenderfoot?

A. It is very different. Technology has become a blessing and a curse in camping. It allows us to reach more families, to keep records better and the like. But it has hurt us in that our campers and even our staff don't know how to let go of their computers, their Facebook, their cellphones, iPods, all that stuff. And they have to because we believe in being here, right now, experiencing life in the moment.

Q. What is your fondest camp memory?

A. I liked hanging out in my bunk at night. I really liked the friendships that I made giggling at night, hanging out like that. And I did really well at camp. I found out that I was great in front of a crowd, that I was a good artist. It was the counselors and the atmosphere that let me know there were abilities that I had that were important.

Q. Have the campers and their parents changed?

A. They have. Parents are a little more protective of their children these days. The parents have a harder time with this than the kids have with being homesick. The campers are the same, pretty much.

Q. Do you sometimes wish you were a kid camping rather than an adult directing?

A. I miss that stuff. Certainly, when you decide at age 18 that you want to be a camp director, you don't know all the details that are involved. I loved being a camper and I loved being a staff member. Now as a director I'm influencing the lives of college-age kids, our counselors, as well as the campers' lives. I love what I'm doing.

A. Kids are still the top priority for parents. They still want them to have great experiences. We have parents who say they don't want their kid in the city all summer with nothing to do. They are looking a lot closer, doing a lot more research and asking more questions. Not only do they want a better price, but they also don't want to skimp on quality. They are asking, "What am I getting for that price?"

We have added some specialty programs this year, like our choir singing and dancing program and our gardening and cooking program, and we are advertising a bit more, emphasizing what people get for the price. We have given out more scholarship money this year than we have in quite a while, too. We are finding some people using our day camp this year like a treat, coming for one or two weeks instead of the whole summer. We haven't seen as much of that in our sleep-over weeks. Our numbers are dead even with last summer. We're seeing a lot of new families.